Election Integrity Project: Former DOJ attorney to lead “pilot” effort to station volunteers, attorneys at New Hampshire polling places

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it will send a team of lawyers and volunteer observers to New Hampshire to monitor the November 4, 2014, elections. The purpose of the new Election Integrity Protection pilot program is to deter election fraud and ensure that New Hampshire’s local election officials are following state and federal laws that protect election integrity.

The Judicial Watch Election Integrity Protection program in New Hampshire will be led and supervised by Judicial Watch Senior Attorney Robert D. Popper. Popper is the former Deputy Chief of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Voting Rights Section. In his role with the DOJ, Popper oversaw numerous DOJ election supervision efforts in which DOJ attorneys and staff observed polling places and recorded violations of federal laws. Judicial Watch polling place monitors will be strictly observing and recording the electoral process; they will not be making voter challenges or actively engaging with election officials.

According to Popper, in New Hampshire, citizens have the right to monitor elections from within polling places, as long as they observe unobtrusively and follow the directions of polling place officials. “That is precisely what Judicial Watch volunteers will be doing,” Popper said. “We will be there to silently observe and record whether state and federal election laws are faithfully followed. Judicial Watch is particularly interested in whether the requirements for voter ID are followed. We will also focus on whether those who want to both register and vote on Election Day are held to proof-of-identity requirements under New Hampshire law.”

Popper says Judicial Watch’s effort is an important one for ensuring a fair and honest election for the citizens of New Hampshire, just as in every other state. “Having supervised precisely these kinds of Election Day monitoring operations for the U.S. Department of Justice, I can say election monitoring deters fraud and reassures honest voters and election officials,” said Popper.

According to Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton: “To put it plainly: the Left plans to sow confusion on Election Day. Unfortunately, the Obama Justice Department’s unhinged attacks on voter ID show that it cannot be trusted to ensure clean elections in November. So, in the key state of New Hampshire, once again this job falls to Judicial Watch. We are pleased to launch this pilot election monitoring program in 2014 in New Hampshire. Our attorneys and citizen volunteers will be using the same guidelines that guide the behavior for Department of Justice elections observers.”

Through its Election Integrity Project, Judicial Watch has taken the lead in fighting voter fraud and protecting the integrity of the ballot box nationwide. Judicial Watch’s examination of data published in 2013 capturing 2012 voter rolls and population data showed that at least 11 states plus DC had substantially out-of-date voter rolls, with multiple counties where the number of registered voters exceeded the total voting age population. According to Pew Charitable Trusts Report published in 2012, “24 million — one of every eight — active voter registrations in the United States are no longer valid or are significantly inaccurate.”

In 2014, Judicial Watch successfully resolved lawsuits in Ohio and Indiana related to cleaning voter rolls in order to comply with the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). It has threatened NVRA lawsuits in Colorado, Iowa, and the District of Columbia. Judicial Watch has ongoing NVRA investigations in Alabama, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, and West Virginia.

Judicial Watch is also defending voter ID and other election integrity laws in the courts through amicus briefs or other participation in cases in North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Arizona.